U.s. Detains Suspected Leader Of Militant Islamic Group

July 28, 1995|The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - — Immigration authorities have detained a Palestinian who lived in Virginia and who they think is a senior political leader of the militant Islamic group Hamas, federal officials said on Thursday.

Mousa Abu Marzook, 44, was detained by the Immigration and Naturalization Service at John F. Kennedy Jr. International Airport in New York on Tuesday afternoon after his name surfaced in a terrorist lookout database, said Carole Florman, INS spokeswoman.

Marzook, formerly of the Falls Church, Va., area, has told federal officials that he is a member of Hamas, and a number of law enforcement sources said that they have received intelligence reports indicating that he is involved in the planning or support of terrorist activities in the Middle East.

Marzook has not been charged with committing any crimes in the United States. Israeli officials, who spoke on condition they remain unidentified, said the Israeli government suspects him of direct oversight of Hamas' terrorist campaign against Israeli civilians.

Marzook's attorney, Stanley Cohen, said Marzook was guilty of nothing more than political devotion to Palestinian independence.

"There's not even a suspicion of him committing a crime in the United States," Cohen said. "He's never denied he's a supporter of the political platform of Hamas. That makes him no different than many other Palestinians."

Hamas, in addition to its guerrilla activities, also runs schools, clinics and mosques in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Cohen said he would seek a hearing in immigration court, demanding Marzook's release. He said he would pursue the case into the federal court system if necessary.

INS officials detained Marzook under two sections of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allege he is an alien who has engaged in terrorist activity and is an alien who officials think may engage in terrorist activity in the United States.

To underscore concern about Marzook, INS officials on Thursday initiated proceedings to bar him from the United States," said Florman.

Marzook had lived in the United States at least 14 years and was given permanent legal resident alien status in 1990 along with his wife and two of his children, INS officials said. Five months ago he left the country and was returning from the United Arab Emirates via London when he was arrested on Tuesday.